Beyond Screen Time: Mother–Child Digital Interaction and Gendered Caregiving

Moderator: Dr. Maryam Mustafa

Abstract

Screen-based media and devices (SMDs) are now deeply woven into the fabric of family life, often shaping children’s experiences before their first birthday. For many families, SMDs have become essential to parenting practices. This talk explores the gendered dimensions of parenting in the digital age, drawing on cross-continental research with caregivers of young children in Pakistan and the United States.

Focusing on mothers as brokers of technology use, the talk introduces the concept of Value-Driven SMD Use—how mothers navigate, appropriate, and resist digital technologies as part of their caregiving repertoire. It examines how mothers use digital childcare tools and how technology acts as a value-added service, enhancing their caregiving capacities while reflecting broader social expectations around motherhood.

By exploring mothers’ preferences for different platforms and content, and highlighting how these preferences are shaped by cultural values, family norms, and local media ecologies, the talk moves beyond simplistic notions of “screen time.” It instead situates mother–child interactions with SMDs within the broader context of gendered caregiving, revealing how mothers’ digital choices both facilitate and complicate emotional and social connections with their children.